diff --git a/lib/ansible/cli/inventory.py b/lib/ansible/cli/inventory.py
index 4c7d4dfd498..f3d70af896f 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/cli/inventory.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/cli/inventory.py
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ class InventoryCLI(CLI):
         if self.options.host:
             hosts = self.inventory.get_hosts(self.options.host)
             if len(hosts) != 1:
-                raise AnsibleOptionsError("You must pass a single valid host to --hosts parameter")
+                raise AnsibleOptionsError("You must pass a single valid host to --host parameter")
 
             myvars = self._get_host_variables(host=hosts[0])
             self._remove_internal(myvars)